Australia must win in Adelaide on Thursday night to maintain its realistic ambitions of automatic qualification for the 2018 World Cup, sitting in third in the group with three games to play.

Saudi Arabia and Japan are three points clear of the Socceroos, meaning anything less than a win for Australia against the Green Falcons will leave them precariously placed and the significance wasn’t lost on Maclaren.

"It’s the biggest (game) of the last two years of qualifying,” Maclaren said.

“People actually don’t realise this is a massive game in Australian football.

“We want the fans to come in numbers. We need that, when you have the whole country behind you.

“They’ll be prepared but we’ll be even more prepared."

Maclaren, who landed a move to German club Darmstadt last month, hasn’t played competitively since netting a double for Brisbane Roar against Ulsan Hyundai on May 10 in the AFC Champions League.

However, the 23-year-old dispelled any concerns about his fitness ahead of the Socceroos camp.

"I trained at AAMI Park after the A-League season with (Socceroos physio) Les Gelis but when you play 35 games in the A-League season, having 10 days off isn’t a problem.

“And I stayed injury free this season which I’m pretty proud of."

Maclaren also brushed off any fears about the pressure getting to the Socceroos.

"You don’t embrace it. You enjoy it,” he said.

“There are a lot of big game players in the squad.”